BT to slash fibre-to-the-premises pricing by 37 percent in 2013

BT is to cut the amount it charges service providers to rent its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) service by 37 percent, while warning that those businesses wanting its forthcoming FTTP On-Demand (FoD) offering can expect a £1,000 bill.

Currently, BT charges other communication providers £60 per month for access to its FTTP network, but will cut this to £38 per month from June 2013. The service offers downstream speeds of 330Mbit/s and upstream speeds of 30Mbit/s.

“I am sure that small businesses will welcome this major price cut and I am also sure that our fibre on demand plans will be of great interest,” said Mike Galvin, managing director of network investment at Openreach.

BT unveiled the first eight pilot sites for its FOD service earlier this year. The telco anticipates that most customers will be satisfied with its 80Mbit/s fibre-to-the-cabinet offering. But where customers are located outside its FTTP rollout but need blazingly fast broadband, FoD will fill a gap.

Even so, the average cost of accessing the FoD service is likely to be around £1,000. BT has yet to confirm its pricing plans, but the cost to the communication provider will depend on the distance between the end users' premises and the BT exchange.

Typically, premises are located 500m from an exchange, BT claimed. In such cases, deploying FoD would cost £1,000. Premises that are closer would incur a smaller charge, and those further away can expect a higher charge. BT also charges third parties an additional £500 installation fee.

“It will be for [communication providers] to decide whether to pass this charge on to their customers, BT said.

BT expects to launch its FoD service in Spring 2013, with the same price cuts that apply to the FTTP service coming into effect in June.